PC Access® Errors with Windows XP and AOL

Quick Contents

[Introduction] [Correcting the Errors] [Related Information]

Introduction

PC Access® for Windows stores your settings from the MLS Setup and Phone Book Setup windows in the PC Access Phone Book file (PCAWIN.PBK). You can find the PCAWIN.PBK file in your PC Access executable directory, by default your PC Access executable directory is: (C:\PCAWIN).

If PC Access for Windows displays one of the following error messages:

Unexpected End Of File on PCAWIN.PBK when loading Phone Book!
PCAWIN caused a general protection fault in module pcawin.exe at 0054:xxxx

you or another program on your computer corrupted the PCAWIN.PBK file.

If you use Windows XP and America Online (AOL), AOL may corrupt the PCAWIN.PBK file. AOL may corrupt the PCAWIN.PBK file if all of the following are true:

you use Windows XP
you use AOL
you set AOL as the default Internet provider in Windows XP.

If you set AOL as the default Internet provider, it associates all files with a .PBK extension to AOL. Our tests at MFM indicate that this somehow corrupts the PCAWIN.PBK file.

MFM has only had reports of this problem with AOL and Windows XP, if you experience this problem and you are running a different version of Windows, for example, Windows 2000 or Windows 98, please complete the PC Access for Windows Problem Report form to report this problem to MFM.

As of Tuesday, November 19, 2002, we are trying to determine how AOL corrupts the PCAWIN.PBK file and how to correct this problem. In the meantime, we have developed two workarounds. For more information, see: Correcting the Errors.

Correcting the Errors

MFM has two workarounds to correct these errors:

Unexpected End Of File on PCAWIN.PBK when loading Phone Book!
PCAWIN caused a general protection fault in module pcawin.exe at 0054:xxxx

You can use either one of the following workarounds:

Remove .PBK File from XP File Registry
Make .PBK File Read-Only

Note: MFM recommends that you first try the workaround in Remove .PBK File from XP File Registry. At this time, we feel that this workaround provides a better solution to the problem.

Remove `.PBK` File from XP File Registry

When you registered AOL as the default Internet provider, it associated all files with a .PBK extension to AOL. To un-associate files with a .PBK extension from AOL, you can un-register the .PBK extension with Windows XP. Use the instructions below un-register the .PBK extension in Windows XP.

Click Start | All Programs or Programs | Accessories | Windows Explorer.
In Windows Explorer, click Tools | Folder Options.
In the Folder Options window. click File Types. Scroll through the pane on this window to find the .PBK extension. When you find it, click on it and click Delete to un-register the .PBK file extension. If Windows displays a confirmation window, click Yes.
Click OK to close the Folder Options window.
From Windows Explorer, delete the PCAWIN.PBK file. If you installed PC Access to its default directory, the PCAWIN.PBK file is in the C:\PCAWIN directory.
Click File | Close to close Windows Explorer.
Click Start | Shutdown | Restart. This will restart Windows XP.
Click Start | Programs | PC Access for Windows | PC Access for Windows.
From the PC Access Main Menu window, click Setup Menu | Advanced | MLS Setup.
Re-enter your settings on the MLS Setup window. If you need assistance, contact your MLS. When you finish, save your changes and return to the PC Access Main Menu window. You can connect to your MLS.

Make `.PBK` File Read-Only

To prevent AOL from corrupting the PCAWIN.PBK file, you may set the Read-Only file attribute on this file. If you set the PCAWIN.PBK file to read-only, you will be unable to make any changes on the MLS Setup or the Phone Book Setup windows. If you make any changes on these windows, PC Access will display this error:

Cannot open PCAWIN.PBK to save entry data:
Permission denied

PC Access will also display this error when you exit the program. Because of this, MFM recommends you first try the workaround in Remove .PBK File from XP File Registry.

Use the instructions below to set the PC Access Phone Book file (PCAWIN.PBK) file to Read-Only.

Click Start | All Programs or Programs | Accessories | Windows Explorer.
In Windows Explorer, navigate to the PC Access executable directory. By default, it is C:\PCAWIN.
Locate the PCAWIN.PBK file in the C:\PCAWIN folder. Delete the PCAWIN.PBK file. First, you need to delete the PCAWIN.PBK file that AOL corrupted. This will temporarily prevent the error from occurring.
Click Start | Programs | PC Access for Windows | PC Access for Windows.
From the PC Access Main Menu window, click Setup Menu | Advanced | MLS Setup.
Re-enter your settings on the MLS Setup window. If you need assistance, contact your MLS. When you finish, save your changes and exit PC Access.
In Windows Explorer right-click on the PCAWIN.PBK file in the C:\PCAWIN directory. From the pop-up window, click Properties.
In the Attributes group, check the Read-only check box. Click Apply to accept the change. Click OK to close the PCAWIN.PBK Properties window.
Run PC Access. Click Start | Programs | PC Access for Windows | PC Access for Windows.